Below standard? On translating children's literature - CEATL
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Counterpoint • No.5 • 2021
Below standard?
On translating children’s literature
Marta Morros Serret
In the years that I have been working as have not yet developed all their potential
a professional translator of illustrated intellectual capacities. Whatever the
books for children, I have, over time, reasons, this does not justify that, in the
realized how diverse children’s publication of children’s books, many
literature is and how important it is, publishing companies consistently
not only in the life of a child, but also neglect to use professional standards:
in their future adult life. The books e.g. not hiring professional translators,
that we read as children transform us not facilitating translation contracts, not
and remain in our memories forever. respecting translator’s rights and, in
some cases, especially when minority
Nevertheless, it seems that children’s languages are involved, translating
literature, compared to adult books from other mainstream languages.
literature, has historically been
relegated to a minor category, socially, Why hire a professional?
professionally and academically. The answer to the above question
Likewise, children’s rights issues have actually should be obvious, but
also been historically marginalized* let me nevertheless explain: first
and somehow, as a domino effect, of all, children’s literature has its
translation of children’s literature has own particularities, which makes
been treated as a minor category of the translation of children’s books
literary translation, to the detriment a specialist task. Some of these
of the working conditions and rights special characteristics are:
of translators of children’s literature. • Orality, especially in books for
young children, because they are
Why is that so? Maybe because there meant to be read aloud, which makes
is the general belief that the world of the cadence and fluency of the
adults is more “serious and important” sentences immensely important.
or maybe because children’s literature • Rhymes: many books play with internal
is created for small human beings that rhymes, a characteristic that helps
25
Counterpoint • No.5 • 2021
children to maintain their attention and • The correlation between pictures
makes it easier for them to remember and text, an imbrication that
the different passages of the book. often determines the translator’s
• Word repetitions that must work choices, especially when there
in different contexts and sentences, is a pun to preserve.
which also serve as a pull to keep
children captured by the story and to Secondly, hiring a professional translator
engage them in its reading as a game, is important because when dealing with
by allowing them to anticipate what children’s literature, we are dealing
is going to be said and letting them also with children’s education. The
pronounce that particular word. books are supposed to amuse children
• Play on words that make the book fun to but also raise their passion for reading
read and encourage reading in general. and motivate critical judgement, so
they can become informed adults and
responsible citizens in the future. Quality
children’s literature goes a long way
to ensure quality education, which is
one of the goals (no. 4.7) of the World
Education Forum’s Incheon Declaration
within the UNESCO framework of
Sustainable Development Goals. To me,
the connection is clear: quality education
means quality literature and quality
literature needs quality translation,
which means professional translation.
Thirdly, hiring professional translators
means that publishing houses are
committed to both children and
children’s authors, who deserve to
read a good translation and be well
translated, respectively. Why should
a publishing company make the effort
to choose the best authors and best
stories, but then not hire a professional
translator? Considering the challenges
that children’s literature present,
it should be obvious that hiring a
professional translator would be the
best option for the sake of the book.
A page from Orbis Sensualium Pictus When all this is so obvious, you might
(‘Visible World in Pictures’, 1658) by John wonder why publishing companies in
Amos Comenius, regarded as the first many cases choose not to go with the
children’s book professional. For me it sometimes seems
26Counterpoint • No.5 • 2021
that publishing companies forget the companies in Spain, which reads: “The
important aspects of the first word translator shall receive a fair share of
‘publishing’ and only worry about the the profits from the exploitation of his/
second word: ‘company’. If it’s all her work, in whatsoever form it may
about the money, some publishing take, starting from the first copy”.
companies may think that paying the
fee of a professional translator and Let me present an example: in Spain,
respecting translators’ copyrights is due to the fact that authors’ copyright is
a waste of money. Well, it’s actually usually 10 % and for its translations this
the other way round, because a well- is generally reduced to 8 %, the share of
translated book could be a success, translated literature subject to authors’
whilst one that is poorly translated copyrights should be 2 % – copyright-
will definitely not and could make the free books are supposed to be increased
publishing company lose a lot of money. up to 8 % – although more often than
not it amounts to 1 % and, to make
Moral and economical rights things worse, lately it’s been lowering
The bottom line is that, whether we to 0.5 % while in children’s literature
like it or not, professional translators translation, many publishing companies
have moral and economic rights under do not share any percentage at all.
both the auspices of the international
“When dealing
law, like the Berne Convention and the
Nairobi Recommendation, and under
many national laws, like the Intellectual
Property Law of 1996 in Spain, the
country where I currently live and
with children’s
work. Without going into detail on the
articles, two concepts are at least clear: literature, we
these laws state that translators have
moral and economic rights, and none of
them claims that children’s literature
are dealing also
translation is exempt from them.
with children’s
In preparing this article, I reread
CEATL’s clear and comprehensive education”
Hexalogue: the six commandments of
“fair play” in literary translation, and Let’s now do some simple maths.
whilst reading them one by one, I just Translators earn one euro out of a
kept reaffirming myself that, yes, all of hundred; ten euro out of a thousand;
them should also apply to the translation a hundred euro out of ten thousand; a
of children’s literature. Why not? thousand euro out of a hundred thousand.
The magnitude of the difference is
I would like to draw attention to daunting. From my point of view, being
the Hexalogue’s 5th commandment asked to have less than 1 % reaches the
on share in profit, one of the most limits of humiliation and really shows
infringed by children’s books publishing the greed of some publishing companies.
27Counterpoint • No.5 • 2021
Marta Morros Serret has translated more
than a hundred children’s books from
English and Japanese into Spanish and
Catalan. She has an MA on Human Rights
and specialized in Children’s Literature and
Human Rights. She is former president of
APTIC and current member of the FIT-IFT
Council. She has recently been awarded the
2020 Special Prize of the Narrating Equality
Prize for El sueño de Claudia.
Marta Morros Serret
Photo: Ilze Fogele
Working together from Bologna children’s literature serves, in the
In the last few years, CEATL and FIT famous words of Dr. Rudine Sims
have made a joint effort to promote Bishop, as “windows and mirrors”:
good editorial practices in the windows from where the child can see
translation of children’s literature. At and understand other cultures and
Bologna Children’s Literature Fair in mirrors in which their own cultures
June, the two hosted an international can be reflected. Or more simply put,
panel titled “Down the rabbit hole: in writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s
working (and surviving) as a translator words, “stories matter, many stories
of children’s literature”, where matter”. Following this line of argument,
representatives of both organizations I would add that children’s literature
discussed the issues that arose here. matters and thus, doubtless, translating
books for children – and translating
No matter what comes of further them well – matters a whole lot.
cooperation and fruitful talks, one
thing is not up for discussion: hiring a
professional and respecting translators
rights is worth it economically for both
the translators and the publishing
houses, who will sell more books if the
quality of the translation is good.
But apart from being profitable
from a financial point of view, the
most important thing is that quality
translation has a human worth because, *As argued in Jonathan Todres & Sarah
as I highlighted above, children’s Higinbotham, ‘A Person’s a Person:
literature is linked to children’s Children’s Rights in Children’s
education and thereby to a culturally Literature’, 45 Columbia Human
sustainable future. Translating Rights Law Review 1 (2013)
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